Sunday, March 22, 2009

updates...

It has been a few weeks since I've had time to do a posting, so I'll do my best to give some updates. The past few weeks have been pretty busy ones for us. On Saturday, March 14th, I traveled up to Millerville for the day with a couple of Jamie's cousins for my sister-in-law Janell's baby shower. We had a great time! There was a wonderful turnout, and I enjoyed helping with all of the fun games and activities. Janell's due date is April 30th, so we are getting close to meeting baby! We are all very excited. Jamie stayed with the girls all day which went pretty well, except I think the day got a little long. He called me about three times during the last hour of our travels, wondering when I was going to be home. :)

Sunday, March 15th, was a beautiful day, so we spent a lot of time outside. The girls discovered every mud puddle in the driveway and loved every minute of it. We just let them have fun, get dirty, and be kids! We also went for a walk along the city trail near our house. The girls loved looking at the ducks (which they call "duh"), and they were thrilled that we met a few puppies along the way. We had to strip them down to their diapers before allowing them to come back in the house because they were so muddy.

My sister Terri & her husband Aaron came to visit on Tuesday, and stayed at our house until Friday. Terri was kind enough to babysit on Thursday night so Jamie & I could go out. I guess the girls had a lot of fun, and even spent 45 minutes in the bathtub!! Sometimes it's hard to get them to come out of the tub because they love baths so much. Thursday was also a day of remembrance for us, because it was the one-year anniversary of the loss of our brother-in-law (Jamie's sister's husband) to cancer. It was very difficult for us to believe that a year had passed, but at the same time it seemed like it happened so long ago.

On Friday, we headed up to my sister Nikki's house in Alexandria. It was the first time that we tried traveling during a time that the girls don't usually nap, and boy was that a mistake!! Both girls did not want to be in the car, so we had to endure a lot of crying. But we managed to make it there in one piece, even though Jamie threatened to get a vasectomy many times along the way. We were hosting a baby shower for my sister Terri at Nikki's house on Saturday morning, so we had fun decorating and setting up once we got there on Friday. The girls had a blast playing with their cousins. The shower on Saturday went well. There was a great turnout of aunts, cousins and friends. Terri's due date is May 3rd, so we are getting close to meeting her baby also!! After the shower, we took the girls to Jamie's sister Jill's house, and she kept them overnight. Since we had the night off from parenting, we went out to eat with my whole family to celebrate my sister Rhonda's milestone birthday (I won't say which one). :) We stayed overnight at Nikki's house, and then went out to Jill's on Sunday morning to pick up the girls. We went to church with Jamie's whole family because the service was being presented in Jim's memory. Then we headed back home, and the girls slept the whole way. Yes, we left during their nap time this time!!!

Olivia & Violet's latest thrill is to drop coins into their piggy banks. They think it is the best thing in the world. Olivia has also started saying "ow" and "uh-oh." She doesn't always know the proper context to use them in, but it is pretty funny anyway. Their current favorite book is "Eight Silly Monkeys." They pat their heads when we read the line "one fell off and bumped his head." They could listen to that book over and over and over. They are also already conspiring together. They have discovered that they can sit in their baby doll's stroller and push each other around, even though their feet pretty much drag on the floor. It was hilarious to watch them figure this out, we were laughing too hard to make them stop. And they thought it was the funniest thing ever.

Here are some pictures from the last few weeks.

Violet pushing Olivia in their doll's stroller:


Olivia enjoying her snack:

Violet enjoying being outside:


Olivia & Violet splashing in mud puddles:


Violet pushing Olivia on our walk:


Violet & Daddy (note Violet's muddy left leg):


Olivia & Violet dropping coins into their piggy banks:

Violet & Olivia at Terri's baby shower:

Cousins' kids at Terri's baby shower (Olivia was napping):
Thronson cousins at Terri's baby shower:
Sisters at Terri's baby shower:
Violet & Mommy at Terri's baby shower:
Violet, Olivia & Mommy at Terri's baby shower:
Olivia in her camo overalls from Grandpa Suchy:
Violet in her camo overalls from Grandpa Suchy:
Violet & Olivia in their camo overalls from Grandpa Suchy:

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Birthday Party Adventure!

We went to a birthday party at Adventure Park this morning. The party was for Jamie's cousin's son who is turning three, and the girls had a blast. We were happy that they included us as their guests. Adventure Park is basically a big play area for kids with tunnels, slides, climbing areas, etc. One side was fenced off as an area for younger kids, which had much smaller climbing equipment, slides and smaller toys. The other side was for older kids with all of the taller climbing and crawling areas. It was funny to watch the girls because they acted very differently. Violet was very unsure at first, and clung to me until she had some time to warm up. She didn't venture very far from us once she got up the nerve to play around a bit. Olivia, on the other hand, was our social butterfly. She was anxious to climb all over everything, and even walked up to people she didn't know and tried to say hi. She wanted to be in the big kids' area so badly. She walked over there and tried to climb around in their area without getting trampled on. Daddy climbed up to the top with her a few times and held her on his lap while going down the big kids slide. She thought she was pretty cool stuff.

We had pizza and birthday cake before heading home. The girls were a bit mixed up from the time change, but we tried to keep them on their same schedule. We got home just in time for their nap, so that worked out perfectly. The weather was pretty decent in the afternoon, so we we went outside for awhile after they got up from their nap. We walked around the neighborhood and into a park area. Violet was very happy to walk down the sidewalk on her own, she walked several blocks before climbing into the stroller. Olivia was our "dawdler" girl, she wanted to stop and look around at every little thing, so we quickly put her into the stroller so we didn't have to stand around and wait for her.

Here are some pictures of the girls at home before we left for the party, and some pictures at Adventure Park!

Olivia & Violet:


Violet:

Olivia:

Violet & Daddy playing catch:

Olivia climbing in the treehouse:


Athena, Olivia & Violet:

Daddy & Olivia coming down the big kid slide:
Daddy & Olivia playing basketball:

Olivia & Violet, taking a break from playing:

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Doctor = No Fun!

We took the girls for their 15-month checkups yesterday afternoon. It was our toughest doctor visit yet! Violet has apparently developed a fear of the elevator, she started bawling as soon as the doors closed behind us, but as soon as we stepped out of the elevator she was fine. So thus began our doctor's office venture!! We played in the kids' area until the nurse called us back. As soon as we entered the patient care room with the nurse, Olivia started wailing. Apparently she remembered last time she was there she had to get shots. They both cried while sitting on the scale for a weight check. They also cried when the doctor came in and tried to check them over. They have been seeing the same doctor since they were born, and apparently they are starting to remember that a trip to his office is not fun. They each had to get three shots, and they both wailed the entire time. So they pretty much cried during the entire 90 minutes we were there. When we were done, we let them walk on their own from the room out to the lobby, which they liked. Olivia took her sweet old time and was a complete social butterfly along the way. This is the last set of shots before kindergarten except for an annual flu shot, so we are pretty happy about that. We don't have to bring them back to the doctor until age two, so hopefully it will be less traumatic next time.

Violet's Stats:
Weight: 22 pounds, 5 1/2 ounces
Length: 30 1/4 inches
Head Circumference: 18 1/4 inches

Olivia's Stats:
Weight: 21 pounds, 2 1/2 ounces
Length: 30 3/4 inches
Head Circumference: 18 1/4 inches